Free · No signup · Real 1929–1954 prices
1929 stock market crash simulator
Market Rewind · Historical simulation
January 1929. You have $10,000 in pretend money.
It starts invested in the S&P composite, an index of large US companies. At 12 moments, choose how much stays in stocks and how much moves to cash. Future prices stay hidden while you play.
How the 1929 stock market crash simulation works
You start in January 1929 with $10,000 in pretend money, invested in the S&P composite. The replay stops at 12 moments, each with the news people had that day. At each one you choose how much to keep in stocks: all of it, half, a quarter or none. Future prices stay hidden until you continue, so you decide with what was known at the time.
How the 1929 stock market crash replay calculates results
A change you make trades at that day's closing level. Between decisions nothing is rebalanced, so the share of your money in stocks moves with prices. Cash earns no interest, and fees, spreads, slippage and taxes are ignored. These are simplifications: on a fast-moving day a real order could not count on the closing price. The score at the end describes the choices you made in this simulation, not your investing ability, and it does not reward the highest balance.
Where the 1929 stock market crash prices come from
S&P composite index weekday closing prices (the index behind today's S&P 500 figures; price only, dividends not included), from Yahoo Finance, each checked against StatMuse. The same figures as our 1929 stock market crash article.
Read the history behind the replay
For what happened, what caused it and how the recovery is measured, read 1929 stock market crash: how long did recovery really take?. Related terms: market crash, margin, bear market.
1929 stock market crash in brief
On October 28 and 29, 1929, Black Monday and Black Tuesday, the Dow fell 12.8% and 11.7%. After that the S&P composite kept falling for almost three years, to 86% below its September 1929 record in June 1932. How long the recovery took depends on what you count, and our article measures it four ways. Read the full story
1929 stock market crash simulator: questions
Is the 1929 stock market crash simulator free?
Yes. It is free, needs no account, and uses pretend money. Nothing you do in it touches a real account.
Does the simulator use real 1929 market data?
Yes. Every price is a real weekday closing level of the S&P composite, the index behind today's S&P 500 figures, from January 1929 to September 1954. Each one is from Yahoo Finance, checked against StatMuse. The figures match our 1929 stock market crash article.
How long does a run take?
About seven minutes for all 12 moments. You can also skip to the end at any point and see how leaving your money alone would have turned out.
Does the simulator show when to buy or sell?
No. It is a historical replay for education. It shows how one stretch of history played out for the choices you made, and it cannot give a rule for when to buy or sell. Past performance does not indicate future results.
Does the replay count dividends?
No. Like the famous "25 years to recover" figure, it counts prices only, and cash earns no interest. Counting dividends, or the fall in consumer prices in the early 1930s, gives a shorter recovery. Our 1929 article works out each measure.
Educational simulation only. Historical data is shown for teaching purposes; past performance does not indicate future results. Simulated outcomes are hypothetical and ignore fees, spread, slippage and taxes. Real investing involves costs and emotions a simulation cannot reproduce. StockCram is not a broker-dealer, investment adviser, or financial institution.